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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/26072284">beneath the sun</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/twilight___renaissance/pseuds/twilight___renaissance'>twilight___renaissance</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Avatar: The Last Airbender</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>A dead dick but still, Airbending &amp; Airbenders, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Earthbending &amp; Earthbenders, F/M, Fate &amp; Destiny, Firebender Sokka (Avatar), Firebending &amp; Firebenders, Firebending! Sokka, M/M, Soulmate AU, Soulmates, Southern Water Tribe, Sozin's a dick, Spirits, Spiritual, Spiritual Soulmates?, Waterbending &amp; Waterbenders, Zuko (Avatar) Needs a Hug, Zuko is an Awkward Turtleduck</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-08-23</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-11-28</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-06 12:49:10</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>6</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>8,465</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/26072284</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/twilight___renaissance/pseuds/twilight___renaissance</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Hakoda and Kya often said that the spirits had blessed them twice, first when they saved Sokka and second when they bestowed the gift of waterbending onto Katara. </p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Aang/Katara (Avatar), Hakoda/Kya (Avatar), Sokka/Zuko (Avatar)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>15</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>282</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. predictions</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>That night had been the hardest in her entire life, or so Kya had thought. The elders' prediction for her and Hakoda's newborn son was surely a death sentence, one must be able to withstand the cold when living in the South Pole. They had predicted that he surely wouldn't survive past his infant years if he could even last for a year. Despite being as close to the fire as he could be and wrapped in the thickest furs they had, the newborn was still visibly and audibly shivering and had been since he was born hours prior. Kya could feel him shivering in her arms, his face all scrunched up as if he was concentrating on something. </p><p><em>Concentrating on getting warm</em>, she thought. </p><p>Kanna had told her that none of the elders, including herself, had seen a child born to the Water Tribe be so unequipped to deal with the cold as it was second nature for the members of the tribe since birth, or normally it was. She had told them to not give him a name, knowing that their grief would be insurmountable come his inevitable passing if he were to be given one. </p><p>Kya didn't look away from her son when she felt a hand on her shoulder, didn't move when she felt her husband sit down next to her. Hakoda looked down at his son in Kya's arms for a long moment before he decided to speak. </p><p>"Kya......" Hakoda said before trailing off, not knowing what to say. </p><p>"There must be something we can do, Hakoda. We can't just let our baby boy die" Kya says, tears pooling in her eyes. </p><p>Hakoda pulled his wife into a side embrace, allowing her to cry on his shoulder. He stroked the baby's head, forcing himself to not mention how cold he was under his fingers. The baby cooed in response and his bright blue eyes opened to look up at Hakoda, breaking his heart in a million different ways. </p><p>"He has your eyes" Hakoda whispers to his wife, kissing her forehead. </p><p>The elders had tried all they could to figure out what was wrong with the child </p><p>"We have to do something, Hakoda, we have to save him" Kya says, looking down on their nameless son. </p><p>"The elders did all they could, Kya, I don't know what else we can do" Hakoda admits. </p><p>"We <em>must </em>try something. I won't allow for our son to die" Kya says, determination evident on her face. </p><p>The baby cooed again, drawing the attention of his parents back to him. Kya smiled down at him and planted a kiss on his forehead. She decided at that moment that if she and Hakoda and the elders couldn't help him, then the spirits must be the only ones that can. His birth was a blessing from the spirits so perhaps they could just extend their generosity a tad bit more and save his life. </p><p>"I know that you won't" Hakoda said, fully believing in his wife.</p><p>Kya nods and they sit in silence for a while. </p><p>"We must ask the spirits for help" Kya says. </p><p>Hakoda looks over at his wife with an arched brow. The spirits were the ones that allowed for their son to be born cursed so why would they help them? But he also can't disagree with her and end her hopes of saving their son. After a few moments, he slowly nods his head in agreement. </p><p>Kya closes her eyes and Hakoda follows suit shortly after. </p><p>"Spirits, please hear our plea and help our son" Kya and Hakoda chant in unison for what seems like ages to the both of them.</p><p>The igloo seemingly goes still after a little while, even the sounds of the fire disappear. Kya and Hakoda slowly open their eyes at the same time and they both gasp, Kya clutches her son ever so closer to her chest. </p><p>At the entrance of their home is a large flame in the shape of a woman, her facial features pronounced but the rest of her body looking like a regular flame. The flame-woman floated closer to Hakoda, Kya, and the nameless child silently. The couple move closer together, Hakoda watching the flame-woman closely. Neither Kya nor Hakoda recognized her but they both knew that she was a spirit and that, hopefully, she was here to help their son. </p><p>"Who are you?" Hakoda asks, trying to not sound terrified. </p><p>"My name is not important, Hakoda of the Southern Water Tribe" The spirit says, her voice reverberating in their ears. </p><p>"Can you help our son?" Kya asks desperately. </p><p>"Yes, but first you must understand the reprocussions" The spirit said. </p><p>"What possible reprocussions?" Hakoda asked. </p><p>"Saving your son will unequivocally change the course that the world is in and won't allow for him to forge his own destiny" The spirit explains.</p><p>"Change the course of the world? Forge his own destiny? What do you mean?" Kya asks. </p><p>"I cannot see his future but your son, if saved, is destined for great things. However, saving him will link him with the other half of his soul forever" The spirit says, hardly answering Kya's question.</p><p>"The other half of his soul?" Hakoda asked. </p><p>"I believe you humans called them soulmates in legends. In order to save him, I must open the link between him and the other half of his soul, whomever that may be" The spirit said. </p><p>Kya and Hakoda shared a look. Kanna had told Hakoda the legends of ancient soulmates when he was a boy. People in ancient times who could somehow unlock that part of themselves and find who the spirits intended for them. The legends also told that soulmates who were benders were much more powerful and that people who were originally non-benders could somehow use the element that their soulmate had. </p><p>"Please"  Kya says, extending her arms so the spirit could better see their son. </p><p>The spirit floated closer to the child and looked down on him with what seemed like pity in her eyes. She lifted an arm and pressed two fingers made out of flames to his forehead, miracuosly not burning him. Bright light emanated from both the spirit and the baby as the baby cooed happily, Hakoda and Kya entranced by the display. After a few moments, the spirit withdrew her fingers from the child's head and floated a few feet away from him. </p><p>"It is done"  The spirit said. </p><p>"Thank you, we are forever indebted to you" Hakoda says. </p><p>The spirit nods her head before disappearing, the sounds of their home returning after her departure. </p><p>Kya looks down at her son to see him smiling up at her, his blue eyes somehow lighter after his exchange with the spirit. </p><p>"I love you, Sokka"  Kya whispers as she places a kiss on his forehead. </p><p> </p><p>~*~</p><p> </p><p>The silence of the royal chamber aided in the spirit's entrance, as getting caught by one of <em>these </em>people was the last thing on her nightly agenda. Soon she would be able to return to her home in the spirit world but first, she had a job to complete. She floated to the crib in the center of the room, her flames illuminating the sleeping child within. The boy looked nothing like the infant from the Water Tribe but the spirit supposed that most humans didn't look the same, especially when they were from different parts of the world. </p><p>She started to lower two of her fingers down onto the child's forehead, just as she had done to the other one, but the door behind her opened and she could hear a woman gasp. </p><p>"Great spirit please spare my son" The woman pleaded before the spirit turned around. </p><p>The woman had long black hair and was wearing long red robes, completely different from Kya back in the Water Tribe. The name <em>Ursa</em> floated into the mind of the spirit and that she thought that her son was about to be killed. </p><p>"Worry not, Ursa, I am not here to harm your child" The spirit said. </p><p>"Then why are you here? No one here asked for guidance" Ursa said, no real emotion present on her face. </p><p>"I am here to grant your son the gift of a soulmate"</p><p>Ursa's eyes grew wide, she has also heard of the legends of soulmates She walked closer to the spirit, closing the large doors behind her and plunging the room into darkness aside from the flames of the spirit. </p><p>"Why Zuko?" She asks, curiosity taking hold of her voice. </p><p>"He needs this gift to change the course of the world" The spirit answers honestly.</p><p>Ursa simply nods and waves her arm as if in acceptance of what the spirit must do. She turns back around to face the child, who has now woken up and is staring up at her with wide, delight-filled eyes. She places two of her fingers onto the child's forehead and allows for the blockage in his soul to be opened. </p><p>Forever changing the course of the world. </p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. smoking gun</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The best course of action, or the one that Kya and Hakoda had decided upon, was to wait until Sokka was a teenager to tell him about the night where he was saved. The night where a spirit told them that he had a soulmate and that he would greatly impact the course of the entire world. When Katara was born a perfectly healthy child it was easier for them to forget about that night but they would never be able to truly forget it. The elders surely didn't either, as they often still asked both Kya and Hakoda how they had managed to bring Sokka back from the brink of death and make him a completely healthy child. All they ever said, and will ever say, is that the spirits answered their prayers but refuse to elaborate on it. </p><p>When Katara showed early signs of waterbending the elders quickly dropped any and all questions they had about their other child and turned their full attention to her. The last waterbender from the Southern Water Tribe had been abducted by the Fire Nation years ago, when Kanna was younger then Hakoda is now, and no one else had shown even the smallest of signs before Katara. Hakoda and Kya often said that the spirits had blessed them twice, first when they saved Sokka and second when they bestowed the gift of waterbending onto Katara. </p><p>Kya was tending to the fire inside of their igloo, preparing it for the long and cold night ahead, when she heard the screams from outside. Immediately she knew that the screams were coming from Sokka and Katara so she ran outside within seconds. The sight in front of her made her jaw drop and speechless for a moment. Katara was slowly backing away from Sokka, who was wielding a small flame in the palm of his hand. </p><p><em>Where are his gloves</em>, is the second thing that Kya thought after<em>, My son is a Firebender. My son's soulmate is Fire Nation</em></p><p>The spirit must have been playing a joke on them when she saved Sokka's life. How could his soulmate possibly be Fire Nation? He's only eight years old and now Hakoda and Kya have to tell him about that night, they're obligated to now. </p><p>"Sokka!" Kya yells. </p><p>Sokka jumps at the sound of his mother's voice, the flame in his hand going out as he does. Katara runs into Kya's open arms, her eyes wide with shock and fear. Sokka looks up at her with the same facial expression and tears rolling down his face. He picks his gloves up from the ground next to him and pulls them on just as Hakoda runs over to them. He had been helping Bato, who was only a few feet behind him, at the perimeter of the village but must have heard the screams and ran immediately. </p><p>"Kya, what happened?" Hakoda asked, looking between the members of his family with concern evident on his face. </p><p>"We can talk inside" Kya said, eyeing Bato with narrowed eyes. </p><p>"I guess I'll just finish up at the perimeter" Bato says, quickly getting Kya's silent message. </p><p>"Thanks, Bato" Hakoda said, clapping his best friend on the shoulder before approaching his family.  </p><p>Bato starts to walk away and that's when Hakoda notices the distance between Sokka and the two others. He tries to put his hand on his son's shoulder but he shies away, a guilt-ridden expression on his face. </p><p>"Let's all go inside" Hakoda says, not missing the fearful expression on his daughter's face. </p><p>They all follow him inside, Sokka a considerable amount away from everyone else. Kya and Katara sit down across from the fire while Hakoda and Sokka remain standing, the latter remaining relatively close to the door. </p><p>"What happened?" Hakoda asked. </p><p>"I....I firebent" Sokka says quietly. </p><p>"It was scary Daddy, really scary" Katara says. </p><p>"You what?" Hakoda turned and asked his son, an unreadable expression on his face. </p><p>Sokka was edging closer and closer to the doorway every second, knowing that firebending and the Fire Nation were both evil. He was evil for being able too firebend and now his parents would never love him again. </p><p>"You heard him, Hakoda. It wasn't his fault" Kya says, defending her son. </p><p>"I know, Kya, I know but we both know what <em>that </em>means" He responded, his hands balled into fists. </p><p>"What does it mean?" Sokka asks, unable to stop the tears from welling in his eyes. </p><p>"Katara, can you give us a little bit to talk to your brother? Your Gran Gran would love you to visit her" Kya says, looking down at her daughter with a painfully fake smile. </p><p>Katara slowly nods her head before standing and walking towards the doorway, towards her brother. She pulls him into a quick hug before running out the door, making Sokka cry even more than he already was. </p><p>"Come sit next to me, honey" Kya says to her son, patting the spot next to her where Katara was just sitting. </p><p>Sokka apprehensively looks between his parents for a sign of hostility before moving to sit down next to his mother. She smiles at him when he sits down and Hakoda sits down on the other side of the dwindling fire. </p><p>"Tell me what happened, Sokka" Hakoda says. </p><p>"Katara and I were playing and my glove slipped off and...and.....and I started to firebend" Sokka explains, tears openly falling down his cheeks.</p><p>"Did you hurt your sister?" Hakoda asked. </p><p>"N-no. It stayed in my hand" Sokka says, looking down at the ground. </p><p>"We have something to tell you. It's why you can firebend" Kya says. </p><p>"Can you make it stop?" Sokka asks in a tone that absolutely breaks Kya's heart. </p><p>"I don't think so. When you were a baby you were really sick so a spirit came and helped you but it made you...linked with your soulmate" Kya explains as easily as she could. </p><p>"Soulmate? What's that?" Sokka asked with a confused look on his face. </p><p>"Someone the spirits made just for you" Hakoda says, still struggling to believe that his son's soulmate was from the Fire Nation.</p><p>"And they're from the Fire Nation? Is that why I can firebend?" Sokka says, saying the last part in a whisper. </p><p>Both Kya and Hakoda simply nod their heads in acknowledgment. </p><p>"But you can't let the others know. They won't understand" Hakoda says, earning a slight glare from Kya. </p><p>"Even Gran Gran?" Sokka asked.</p><p>"Even Gran Gran" Hakoda said. </p><p>"What if Katara tells her?" He asked.</p><p>"I don't think that your sister will, honey, and if she does we'll handle it" Kya says, forcing herself to smile down at her son. </p><p>Sokka nodded his head and his life seemed like it could return to normal. </p><p> </p><p>~*~</p><p> </p><p>Except it didn't. The rest of the village never learned about Sokka's new ability, including Kanna, but the world was turned on its head when the Fire Nation raided their village two years later. They were looking for the last waterbender of the Southern Water Tribe, they were looking for Katara. At just ten years old, Sokka thrust himself onto the front lines and tried his best to protect his village. Most of the Fire Nation soldiers didn't pay him any attention, they were there to find a waterbender, not kill an innocent yet annoying child who thought he was a warrior. He could feel a stirring inside of him at the sight of other people firebending as if his inner flame was being called to them in some sort of brotherhood but he quickly ignored it. He was Water Tribe first, firebender second. </p><p>The raid ended as quickly as it had started but Sokka knew something was wrong when he approached their igloo. He could hear his father and sister crying from inside and his heart fell into the deepest regions of his stomach. He slowly entered and his eyes grew wide as he did. Hakoda was on his knees on the ground, clutching Kya in his arms as he wept. Katara was next to him crying and they both looked up when he entered. Tear quickly filled his eyes and he began to cry. Neither of them said anything as he collapsed down next to Katara and grabbed Kya's still warm hand. </p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. once in twenty lifetimes</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Their igloo hadn't been the same since Kya's passing; Katara and Sokka couldn't look at the spot where they had found her body while Hakoda was barely able to enter it without being brought to tears. The years had passed slowly, the family never truly healing and they were separated before they were able to finish that process. Hakoda, Bato, and the other warriors of the village left to aid the Earth Kingdom in the war against the Fire Nation, leaving Sokka and Katara to protect and watch over the village. He hadn't looked Sokka in the eye when he had left, knowing that the entire fate of their village was resting in the hands of a firebender. Sokka hadn't used his <em>gift </em>ever since the Fire Nation raided their village and killed Kya but he could feel the fire stirring within him at all times. No other member of the village, beside Katara and Hakoda, knew of his ability and he wanted to keep it that way, just as his mother wanted. So he ignored Katara whenever she decided to waterbend, jealousy churning in his gut as he did. </p><p>Everything changed when they met Aang, the boy in the iceberg. Sokka couldn't help but be suspicious of the boy but Katara's apparent trust in him somewhat put him at ease. The airbender was a, seemingly, nice kid with good intentions but Sokka still had a duty to his family and tribe and he couldn't afford to trust a stranger and have it blow up in his face. </p><p>"Sokka? How are you doing back there?" Katara asks, looking back at him from the front of the saddle. </p><p>He was thoroughly unimpressed with Aang's 'flying' bison, Appa, but riding on its back was a much preferable way to get home then swimming in the arctic waters. The other two had been chatting ever since Aang had come out of the iceberg, allowing for Sokka to be relatively alone with his thoughts.</p><p>"Fine, Katara, just fine" Sokka says sarcastically, causing his sister to roll her eyes at him. </p><p>Katara turns away and he looks out at the expanse of water to the left of them. The shore was slowly coming into sight but they wouldn't be back home for another hour or so if Sokka's estimation is correct. The two younger teens easily resume their previous conversation, Sokka deciding to just ignore them this time as they weren't going to include him in whatever they were speaking about anyways. He could feel a tightening in his chest, one that he easily linked with the feeling of being left out. Katara was not only his sister but his best friend, his only confidant ever since their mother was killed, and it was difficult for him to see her easily click with Aang, someone she'd known for less than an hour. </p><p>Sokka frowned. </p><p> </p><p>~*~</p><p> </p><p>Zuko had felt a tightening in his chest when his ship neared the Water Tribe village, forcing himself to chalk it up to nerves. He would be facing a fully realized Avatar, after all, something that his predecessors had only dreamed of. He knew that Iroh didn't think he was ready but Zuko <em>had </em>to be, his honor was riding on this. His father would accept him back into the Fire Nation if he were to bring the Avatar to him and all Zuko wants is to return home to his old life, his life before his exile. </p><p>His helmet pressed uncomfortably against the sides of his face, reminding him how much he hated it being a part of his uniform. The armor pressed down on his shoulders in a way that he was used too by now but wasn't a fan of. Despite all of this, the cold of the South Pole was still settling in his bones and making him grateful that he could firebend. How anyone could live in conditions like this was completely unknown to him. </p><p>The ship jolted to a stop, signaling that they had arrived at their destination. Zuko took a few deep breaths as the gangplank began to lower, forcing himself to remain as calm as possible. The first thing he saw when he looked out onto the village was a group of women and children standing around a smoldering fire, all of them clutching onto each other with fearful expressions on their faces. Not to worry, Zuko and his men wouldn't hurt them as long as they turned the Avatar over to him. </p><p>He began walking down the gangplank and towards the villagers, flanked by two of his men on either side. Zuko turned his head when he heard a rather unpleasant war cry come from the right of the gangplank. A boy no older than himself with what appeared to be war paint smudged on his face was running towards Zuko and his men, a club in his hand and raised in the air. Zuko's golden eyes lock with the boy's bright blue ones and Zuko feels like he got slammed in the chest with a bag of bricks. He knows that the boy felt it too because he nearly stopped running at him. </p><p>
  <em>there's no possible way that this is who it is</em>
</p><p>Zuko nearly screams at the sound of someone else in his brain but is distracted by the fact that the Water Tribe boy was nearly on top of him with his club. Zuko easily knocked the club out of his hand and kicked the boy off of the gangplank and into the pile of snow next to it, allowing him to approach the other villagers. </p><p>"Where is he? Where is the Avatar?" Zuko nearly shouts at them all, clenching his fists at his sides.</p><p>None of them respond to his questions, angering Zuko even more then he was before. He growls at them and shoots fire above their heads, making them all scream and duck out of the way. </p><p>"The Avatar is not here" One of the women says, clutching a child close to her as she does. </p><p>"Don't lie to me! He has to be here!" Zuko yells at the women, causing them to further recoil away from him and his men. </p><p>Zuko sensed movement coming from behind him so he turned around to see the Water Tribe boy running at him again but with a spear this time. Zuko internally groaned and rolled his eyes, can't this boy understand that he's clearly outnumbered and no match for him? The boy frowns as he approaches and continues to do so when Zuko snaps his spear in half and uses it against him. Zuko sees him grab something from a sheath on his back and throw it but nothing lands so he thinks nothing of it. He looked around, only seeing the women and children of the village as the Avatar was still being too much of a coward to show his face. </p><p>Then he's hit in the back of the head by something, effectively knocking him down to the ground. The snow is cold and foreign on his face, his embarrassment forcing himself to jump up faster then he had too. His head is throbbing as he looks around for what hit him. He sees a boomerang on the ground a few feet away from him and automatically assumes that that was what the Water Tribe boy had thrown at him earlier. </p><p>He could hear some murmuring in the crowd of villagers as a girl younger then Zuko and a boy even younger then she appears, the boy fully decked out in traditional airbender garb. There was no way that this <em>child </em>is the Avatar, there was no possible way for him to be this young and be an airbender. </p><p>"Aang you can't do this!" Zuko hears the girl whisper at the boy, Aang.</p><p>Aang ignores the girl and walks over to Zuko, only a few feet separating them when the boy decides to speak.</p><p>"If I go with you will you leave these people in peace?" Aang asks.</p><p>Zuko nods and waves his hand, motioning for his men to grab the boy and bring him aboard the ship.</p><p>"Aang no!" The Water Tribe boy yells.</p><p>"Everything will be fine Sokka, I'll see you soon" Aang says with an optimistic smile on his face.</p><p>Oh how he was wrong, or so Zuko would like to think. </p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0004"><h2>4. kerosene eyes</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The wind tousled Sokka's hair, nearly pulling it out of its normal wolf's tail, as he stared down at the water below the flying bison, Appa or whatever Katara had said its name was. He could see the Fire Nation ship in the distance, the one that they were trying to catch up too so they could save Aang. Sokka forced any and all thoughts of the Fire Nation soldier out of his mind, there was no way that <em>he </em>was his soulmate. Ever since the first, and last time, that Sokka firebent he knew that his soulmate was from the Fire Nation but he had forced himself to believe that they were a good person, not someone directly responsible for invading his homeland and trashing his village. The spirits sure had a funny way of enacting their will upon humans, forever linking Sokka's soul with one of a firebender. </p><p>"You could have saved him, Sokka" he heard Katara say quietly. </p><p>Sokka's head whipped over to look at the back of his sister's head, her eyes not moving off of the Fire Nation ship that they were fastly approaching. </p><p>"Katara...." Sokka trailed off, not knowing what to say. </p><p>She slowly turned her head to face him, tears welling in her eyes. </p><p>"You could have used your firebending to save him" She says, wiping her tears away. </p><p>Katara's face was filled with anguish but there was an anger deep in there too, one that Sokka was all too familiar with. He knew, deep down, that if he hadn't forced himself to never use his firebending again he could've possibly saved Aang, that he could have possibly protected their mother during the raid all those years ago. Katara knew it too and wouldn't forgive him, she thought that he was selfish and probably just as bad as his Fire Nation soulmate. Not that she knew that he had a soulmate, one from the Fire Nation no less, as their parents had merely told Katara that the spirits had gifted him with firebending just as they had gifted her with waterbending. </p><p>"Against multiple Fire Nation soldiers? Katara, he did what was best for the village" Sokka says, crossing his arms in front of his chest.</p><p>Katara turned back around and said nothing to him until they arrived at the Fire Nation ship. </p><p>~*~</p><p>Sokka could see Aang nearly instantly lose his footing when he touches down on the Fire Nation ship after coming back from the Avatar State. Sokka had never seen bending like that in his entire life and was still in awe. So Aang really was the Avatar, maybe he would be able to help Sokka learn to control and use his firebending to their advantage? Katara pulled on the reins and Appa flew down onto the deck of the Fire Nation ship, the two of them quickly climbing off of him. </p><p>"Aang, are you okay?" Katara yells, running over to him. </p><p>She lowers herself down to the ground and pulls Aang into her arms just as he was regaining consciousness, Sokka crouching down next to them.</p><p>"Hey, guys. I dropped my staff" Aang says tiredly after a moment. </p><p>Sokka pulls himself to his feet and simply nods his head, knowing that Katara was going to stay with Aang regardless of what his initial decision would be. He quickly walks over to where Aang had dropped his staff and bent down to pick it up. A hand jolted up and latched itself onto the staff when Sokka had it partway off the ground, causing him to nearly jump out of his skin. The Fire Nation soldier from before, the one who was around his and Katara's age, had latched onto it so he didn't fall off of the ship and was looking Sokka dead in the eye. </p><p>The same feeling as before, as if a heavyweight had been dropped on his chest, was back and was becoming more intense the longer he and the other boy stayed in limbo looking at each other. A different feeling was coursing through Sokka's body as well, a type of warmth that he couldn't begin to describe passed through his veins and settled in his limbs. His parents told him that he had a soulmate but Sokka still couldn't fathom why the spirits thought that it was a good idea to pair him with something from the Fire Nation. They were on opposite sides of the war, there was no telling of how the war would play out, and if either of them would survive to see the end of it.  Nearly a minute had passed when Sokka, without thinking, pulled the Fire Nation soldier back onto the ship. </p><p>
  <em>why is he helping me? </em>
</p><p>Sokka silently walked away from the Fire Nation soldier, Aang's staff in hand, and sees a few of the other soldiers approaching Katara. She raises her arms, raising the water left on the desk of the ship from Aang's previous waterbending display, and flicks her wrist. The water flows back towards Sokka and freezes around his legs and feet. </p><p>"Katara!" He groans. </p><p>He quickly unsheathes his boomerang and starts hacking away at the ice, seeing Katara freeze the other soldiers out of the corner of his eye. A small ball of fire whizzes past Sokka's ear and heads straight for Aang, who jumps up and just barely floats away. Sokka whips his head around to see the Fire Nation soldier back in a fighting stance, narrowing his good eye at Aang. The ice finally breaks when another fireball is shot in Aang's general direction, the heat causing Sokka to sweat. Aang is back down on the deck of the ship now, looking at Sokka as if trying to give him a signal. </p><p>Sokka, after a moment, realizes that Aang wants his staff. He throws it over to him and turns towards the soldier, narrowing his eyes at him. </p><p>So this is how he's gonna use the opportunity I gave him, Sokka thought distastefully. </p><p>"You made a deal, Avatar, don't break it now" The soldier says, punching flames at Aang. </p><p>Aang bounces out of the way of the flame, one of which nearly hit both Appa and Katara. Sokka glared at the soldier, knowing that despite their possible connection he couldn't allow for his sister to get hurt. He clenched his boomerang in his hand, took a deep breath, and then threw it at the soldier. White flames emitted from the edge of the boomerang, following the arch of the weapon. The ship deck was dead silent and everyone was looking at Sokka with awe-struck expressions on their faces. He used the shock to grab Aang and pull him over to Appa and they both quickly climbed onto him. </p><p>"Yip Yip!" Aang called, taking hold of the reins. </p><p>Appa grunted and within a few seconds, they were up in the sky, flying away from the Fire Nation ship. Sokka caught his boomerang when it came back to him, the edges of it burnt just a little bit from the white flames. He looked down to see the Fire Nation boy looking up at him with awe, their eyes locking for just a moment before they both looked away. Sokka turned around in the saddle, facing his sister and the Avatar. Katara was looking at him with an unreadable expression on her face while Aang was focusing on the sky in front of them. </p><p>"Sokka, I didn't know you were a firebender!" Aang says ecstatically as he turns around to look at Sokka. </p><p>"Well, now you know" Sokka grumbles, crossing his arms in front of his chest. </p><p>He hadn't even meant to firebend on the ship, it had just happened. That gave away any surprise value they could have had against the Fire Nation, now they knew that the Avatar was traveling with a Waterbender and a Firebender from the Southern Water Tribe. </p><p>"Yeah, Sokka, what was that back there?" Katara asks, arching a brow at her brother.</p><p>"I don't know, Katara, it just happened" Sokka says with a frown. </p><p>"Well, when the time comes, do you think you'll be able to show me what you know? About firebending?" Aang asks with a smile on his face. </p><p>"We're gonna have to learn it together, Aang, I don't know anything about it" Sokka says honestly. </p><p>Growing up in the South Pole there wasn't a whole lot of talk involving the practice of firebending, especially since Sokka kept his talent hidden from the rest of the village except Katara and their dad. Their parents had basically made Sokka swear to secrecy about it that day all those years ago when he first firebent, so asking about it was out of the question. And following the raid on the village, following their mother's death, the Fire Nation became a taboo subject to mention around Hakoda. It was also something that he refused to speak to Katara about, knowing how close she was with their mother. Which was hard for him because they used to practice their bending together, away from the prying eyes of their parents and the rest of the village, when they were first getting the hang of things. </p><p>"Okay!" Aang says before turning back towards the horizon. </p><p>Sokka could feel Katara glaring at him still but decided to ignore her, that was something he would have to deal with eventually but not right now. </p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>white flames for sokka because why not? it most likely will be explained in a future chapter FYI</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0005"><h2>5. gap in the clouds</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>A warmth had settled deep in Sokka's gut following the skirmish on the Fire Nation ship after he firebent for the first time in years. The blood in his veins felt warmer than they ever had before as if molten lava were passing through them, but he subconsciously welcomed this new warmth. But he was afraid. </p><p>Afraid that he wouldn't be able to control the fire within him, afraid that he would, somehow, end up hurting Katara and Aang. In the last one hundred years, there hadn't been a single good firebender and Sokka was afraid that he would be cursed to such a fate because of what the spirits gave him. That he would be evil just like his firebender soulmate, the Fire Nation boy his age whose name he still didn't know. Not that it entirely mattered, nothing would ever come of them being soulmates. Did they even know about soulmates in the Fire Nation? Sokka didn't know the answer to that and figured he most likely never would. </p><p>He still didn't entirely understand the concept himself, the only knowledge he had on it being what his parents, and the village elders, told him all those years ago. Before his mother was killed in that Fire Nation raid, his parents had told Katara about soulmates, and how Sokka had one. She wanted a soulmate of her own when they were children, so she could be just like her big brother, but that had never come to pass. That the spirits had blessed him as a baby and, in the only way that he could survive, forever linked him to his soulmate. Their explanation of soulmates never explained why Sokka could, sometimes, hear the other boy in his head or the feeling he got when he was around. But it was a little too late to ask for any more of an explanation than what he already got from them. The elders in their village said that the last pair of known soulmates were both from the Northern Water Tribe but had died centuries ago, leading the world to believe that a pair of soulmates wouldn't ever again be born into this world. They had been wrong, not that they knew that of course, and Sokka was saddled with the expectations of the entire world as one half of the first pair of soulmates in generations. </p><p>The constant traveling with Katara and Aang helped Sokka to keep his mind off of such things, he was allowed to just focus on the moment and the places he was getting to see. They hadn't had a run-in with Sokka's soulmate in a while so that helped him keep his mind off of his destiny and all that spiritual mumbo-jumbo. </p><p>Kyoshi Island was different than the other places that they had been to before. The people, after some initial hesitation, welcomed them, mainly Aang, with open arms and seemed pleased to have them there. The island was different than any place that Katara and Sokka had seen before; they were used to vast icy tundras and igloos, not sandy beaches and wooden houses. Sure they had seen differing landscapes ever since they had left the South Pole but they had never really stayed in a place long enough to admire its beauty. </p><p>The Kyoshi Warriors were also different from any group that they had back home. All of the warriors in the Southern Water Tribe were men while the women stayed home to raise the children and do household chores. They were highly skilled, Sokka could give them that one at least, and it felt good to be in the presence of fellow warriors, even if it did take him some time to adjust. Suki had allowed him to practice with the rest of the warriors, as long as he abides by all of their customs. She was welcoming to him in a way that the warriors of his own tribe weren't, she willingly showed him their technique while at home he had to beg and plead for his father and his men to train him in the slightest. Perhaps it was because his father didn't want a firebender, even if it was his own son, fighting with them. </p><p>The uniform felt foreign on him but he wore it anyway, feeling honored that he was allowed to partake in their training. As he kept going through the stances, he could feel his body getting warmer in a way he didn't recognize. Warmth pooled in his palms, patiently waiting to be expelled via flame. Sokka gritted his teeth and kept going with the stances, he wouldn't allow himself to lose control and possibly hurt somebody. The rest of the warriors eventually cleared out, Suki had dismissed them early so she could help train Sokka a bit more before he had to leave with Aang and Katara. </p><p>"So, where are you guys headed next?" Suki asks, switching from one form to the next. </p><p>"Aang needs to learn Waterbending so we're heading to the North Pole" Sokka says, copying her form. </p><p>"Isn't your sister a bender? Can't she teach him?" She asks, going back to a regular standing stance. </p><p>"She needs to learn too, she didn't have a teacher back in our village" Sokka explains, copying Suki once again. </p><p>Before either of them could say something else, Oyaji, the leader of the village, appeared in the doorway. </p><p>"Firebenders have landed on our shores. Girls, come quickly!" He exclaimed before dashing away, fear evident in his voice. </p><p>With a small grunt from Sokka, both he and Suki quickly follow after him. Sokka's heart drops down into his stomach as the realization hits him; the firebenders that have arrived must be lead by his soulmate. Kyoshi Island hasn't been touched by the war at all in the last 100 years so that's the only plausible explanation. He follows Suki to behind one of the houses, just out of the line of sight of the quickly approaching firebenders. He could hear one of them speaking but couldn't make out what they were saying. Out of the corner of his eye, Sokka could see some of the other Kyoshi Warriors dashing between the houses, trying to find a vantage spot on the attacking forces. The soldiers advance on their komodo rhinos and the Kyoshi Warriors leap into action.</p><p>Suki dashes out from behind their hiding spots and sprints straight towards who appears to be in charge, Sokka only a few feet behind her at most. Once they get closer to Suki's anticipated target, Sokka immediately can tell that it's his soulmate. Sokka nearly stops dead in his tracks when he sees him, his heart lodging itself up in his throat. Why wouldn't he just give up on his search for Aang? Suki leaps into the air in an attempt to land a blow on him but he uses his komodo rhino's tail to smack her out of the air, sending her crashing to the ground a few feet away. He rears his fist back and shoots a ball of flame at Suki but Sokka gets there just in time, blocking the flame with the fan given to him by the Kyoshi Warriors. </p><p>He looks at Sokka with an awe-struck look on his face.</p><p>
  <em>why is he wearing a dress? </em>
</p><p>"I don't want to fight <em>you</em>," He says, an unreadable expression on his face. </p><p>Sokka could feel Suki looking between the two of them, her confusion greater than if not equal to his. He didn't have the chance to respond, however, before another Kyoshi Warrior swooped in and knocked him off of the saddle of the komodo rhino, who promptly ran off. Sokka, rooted to his spot, didn't join as Suki and the other Kyoshi Warrior stood around the soldier, ready to attack him once again. He slowly stands and, without giving Sokka a passing glance, uses his feet to create flames that knock the other Kyoshi Warrior into the home they were in front of and slams Suki into a nearby support beam. Then, that's when he looks at Sokka. He approaches him slowly, ignoring everything else going on around them, as Sokka slowly backs away. </p><p>"What's your name?" The firebender asks, his one good eye ablaze with emotion. </p><p>"Why should I tell you anything?" Sokka snaps back at him. </p><p>The firebender seemingly looks <em>hurt </em>at Sokka's words, as if he owed him something. Sokka owed him nothing, the fact that they were soulmates meant nothing to him at that point. He only brought destruction wherever he went on a quest to capture the Avatar, a quest that would, if it ended in success, lead to the Fire Nation winning the war for good. Internal heat burned at his palms, begging to be released wherever Sokka deemed fit. He couldn't use firebending to fight this guy, he simply couldn't allow himself to stoop down to <em>their </em>level.</p><p>
  <em>because of this. </em>
</p><p>Sokka looked at the soldier with wide eyes, his mouth popped open. How could he control that? There's no possible way that they spoke of soulmates in the Fire Nation, they were purely too evil to speak of such things. He had a disgustingly smug look on his face, one that Sokka wanted to punch right off of him. </p><p>"SOKKA!" </p><p>Sokka whipped his head around to see Appa flying down towards him, with Aang at the reins and Katara in the saddle. He runs closer to them, in hopes that the Fire Nation soldier won't try to attack the three of them and Appa. </p><p>"You'll have to stop running eventually, Avatar!" The soldier says, sending fireballs in their general direction. </p><p>Sokka uses the fan to deflect one of them while Aang uses his staff on the other one. Sokka drops the fan on the ground and quickly climbs up Appa's back and into the saddle. Another fireball whizzed past his ear, a small look of guilt evident in the soldier's eyes as it did. </p><p><em>He lied then,</em> Sokka thought, <em>when he said he didn't want to fight me.</em> </p><p>"Appa, yip yip!" Aang says and snaps the reins in his hands. </p><p>Appa roars and pushes off the ground and into the sky. Sokka refused to look down on the village as they left, not wanting to look at the destruction that his soulmate had caused in search of his best friend. </p><p>
  <em>the name's Zuko, Prince of the Fire Nation. </em>
</p>
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<a name="section0006"><h2>6. coconut mall</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>italicized portion is a flashback</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Waking with the sun had been a custom in the Fire Nation for centuries, firebenders got their strength from the sun and utilized this by being awake during every hour filled with sunlight. Despite being in exile, Zuko still upheld this tradition and had every day since he had left his homeland. It gave him time to think, as the rest of the crew either was still asleep or gave Zuko the space that he wanted, and sometimes needed. It also gave him time to practice his firebending forms, he needed to be at the peak of his strength the next time he went up against the Avatar and his friends. He needed to be ready to fight his soulmate if it were to come to that. </p><p>The bow of the ship was deserted that morning, like every morning before it, so Zuko quickly got to work. He always went through his firebending forms without using his bending first, like his uncle had taught him years ago, to stretch his muscles and properly wake himself up. His uncle had taught him nearly everything he knew about bending, apart from what he was taught by his tutors back home, but still didn't think that Zuko was ready for more advanced training. He had to be ready for whatever he came across, whether that be an earthbending battalion or the Avatar and his team. He would be able to fight his soulmate the next time they crossed paths, he wouldn't freeze up like a scared little boy again. His soulmate, the Water Tribe peasant named Sokka, had no qualms about fighting him so why shouldn't Zuko be fine with fighting back? </p><p>His mother had taught him that having a soulmate was something sacred, something gifted to humanity by the spirits that should be forever cherished. That, despite Fire Lord Sozin banning all mentions of soulmates from the Fire Nation over one hundred years ago, Zuko was special for having one and should forever thank the spirits for giving him one. She disappeared before she could tell Zuko what she knew about them, and all of the relevant texts had been destroyed in a mass purge by Sozin, so he was in the dark about them for the majority of his life. </p><p>Until he met Sokka. </p><p>The first time he heard the other boy's voice in his head he had nearly passed out from fear. He couldn't explain away the tightening feeling in his gut that he had felt when they approached the Southern Water Tribe or when the two Water Tribe peasants and the flying beast had come to rescue the Avatar. He didn't know if the Water Tribe boy was simply capable of telepathy or that all of the things his mother told him were finally coming to fruition. He didn't know what was happening, refused to connect the things his mother told him with the events that had occurred until he went to his uncle for advice. They were no longer in the Fire Nation, they could speak freely about soulmates on Zuko's ship. </p><p>
  <em>"Uncle, may I ask you something?" Zuko asked, his heart pounding fiercely in his chest.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>The fire in the hearth was dimming and the rest of the ship's crew had turned in for the night. It was the first night on board the ship following the Avatar's escape, and Zuko and his soulmate's first meeting. Iroh turned to his nephew with a calm nod. </em>
</p><p>
  <em>"Do you know anything about.....soulmates?' Zuko asks reluctantly, looking pointedly down at the ground. </em>
</p><p>
  <em>Iroh chuckled quietly to himself before answering.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>"Interesting question, Prince Zuko, very interesting," Iroh starts, not missing the faint blush on his nephew's cheeks. "Ah, where to start? Legends say that soulmates are a blessing, or a curse, given to humanity by the spirits. Soulmates can also bend each other's elements, or just one if one of them is a nonbender. But there haven't been soulmates in nearly one hundred years or at least a widely known pair in that amount of time"</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Iroh gave Zuko a knowing look, as if to say that he knew exactly why Zuko had asked the question, and Zuko simply looked away.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>"Anything else?" Zuko gritted out. </em>
</p><p>
  <em>"There were reports that some soulmate pairs could communicate telepathically and could sense when they were near each other. I fear I know your reasoning behind asking these questions, Prince Zuko" Iroh says, his face as warm and calming as ever. </em>
</p><p>
  <em>Zuko grunted before standing and leaving the room, leaving his uncle with the answer that he already knew. </em>
</p><p>Heat was building in his hands as Zuko made his way through the stances, fire patiently waiting to be expelled from his body. His conversation with his uncle taught him everything that he needed to know about his current situation; his soulmate was a Water Tribe peasant working with the Avatar to bring an end to the war. And Zuko needed to bring the Avatar home, back to the Fire Nation, so he could be released from his exile and regain his honor.</p><p>And not even his soulmate could stop him from that, not anymore. </p>
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